PREGAME: Rd 01 vs Western Bulldogs

[whatwhat say what 22,532]

4 minutes ago, Demonsone said:

Has May been confirmed not playing?

i imagine they'll give him up to an hour before the bounce

[layzie 33,718]

Still got nightmares after Tomlinson's Sydney performance last year. Will back him if he's in but I doubt he'd be first in line. 

[Guest]

23 minutes ago, Demon17 said:

What's Pesnion Day got to do with it.

Many , many Pensioners can't afford to got to the AFL.   I'm serious and its a disgrace.

I’m sorry to have offended you. I can’t speak for other areas but In my neck of the woods it’s only too well known that pensioners can’t make plans that cost $ in the days leading up to Pension Day, in particular, the eve of such.

Bulldogs supporters by far and away outnumber any other teams’ supporters where I live. I speak to many of them in my capacity as a volunteer at our community centre once a week. As sad as it is, the fact remains that the timing of matches in relation to Pension Day affects the crowd numbers, as regards these supporters.

Again, I’m sorry to have clearly upset you. Wasn’t my intention.

Oh and btw, these hardened old Doggies supporters don’t hold back from giving me shiiiit for being a Melbourne supporter. I cop all the snow and Range Rover and cheese platter jibes imaginable. This despite being a local. 

Edited March 16, 2023 by WalkingCivilWar

[Jaded No More 68,832]

It would be an incredibly negative attitude to go into round 1 with Tmac thrown into the backline.

We have options, and to rob our forwardline of Tmac, who's absence last season showed us how pivotal he is to our setup, is just defeatist. 

Turner, Tomlinson and Sasche can all come in and play down back, pushing Petty to the FB role, which we know he can do well. We can also push Gawn back behind play, which I suggest we might do if we need to stem momentum, which still leaves this guy named Grundy in the ruck. I hear he is not bad.

 

[layzie 33,718]

8 minutes ago, Jaded No More said:

It would be an incredibly negative attitude to go into round 1 with Tmac thrown into the backline.

We have options, and to rob our forwardline of Tmac, who's absence last season showed us how pivotal he is to our setup, is just defeatist. 

Turner, Tomlinson and Sasche can all come in and play down back, pushing Petty to the FB role, which we know he can do well. We can also push Gawn back behind play, which I suggest we might do if we need to stem momentum, which still leaves this guy named Grundy in the ruck. I hear he is not bad.

 

Yeah I'd prefer Schache comes in to play back over T-Mac. Not so sure with Tommo though. 

[Lucifers Hero 39,299]

Anyone else notice how much bulk Bontempelli has put on?  I know all players bulk up in the preseason but he is much bigger than in other years; he is Hulk like!

I wonder whether he has bulked up to Dunkley's size to take over his inside role?  If so that will limit his impact outside the contest and makie quick plays into the fwd line/snaps for goal harder. 

I wonder if Beveridge outsmarts himself with all the magnets he seems to be moving around.  He may keep the opps guessing but it may also confuse his own players.

Edited March 16, 2023 by Lucifers Hero

[Jaded No More 68,832]

4 minutes ago, layzie said:

Yeah I'd prefer Schache comes in to play back over T-Mac. Not so sure with Tommo though. 

Tomlinson is my least preferred option too. I watched him get destroyed by some kid versus St Kilda and it made me unwell. 

Having said that, he is experienced and is also a big body. We might think that with McVee and Laurie we can't bring in another virtually untried kid in Turner (half a game last year is hardly experience to hang your hat on).

Schache has a point to prove and probably knows the Dog's forward set up better than most. Can he cut it as a defender? Who knows.

Look you can't replace May with a second rate player. He is arguably the best defender in the game. We just need to make do until he cherry ripe, because we can go without him for a few weeks now, but we can't afford for him to break down in finals. He is far far too valuable. 

[rpfc 28,219]

You can’t replace your best players. Depth only works on the periphery - to replace ANB and Rivers or specific roles like FP or defensive wing. 

So the absences of Fritsch, Viney, May, and Salem will be answered only, and respectively, by the existing forwards, mids, Lever and Petty, and the back flankers to do a little bit more.

I think we will win unless someone gets a hold of us. Our team looks energised and synergised and that can win you a few games on its own early in the season.

[Deemania since 56 6,605]

On 3/15/2023 at 10:06 AM, Lucifers Hero said:

JVR?  Height diff only 5 cm.

Let Grundy or Gawn spend more time behind the ball especially as WB defence isn't that tall even if they put the very inexperienced Darcy back there.

Yep, a good thrashing by our two big boys across the Footiskry forward line could be beautifully 'finished off' with our new and rampant forward outcomes and potentials! However, I will miss Fritta but further readying will be to his - and the team - advantage. 'Carna mighty Dees! May is also mentioned to have 'calf troubles' at the present time - so Grundy and Gawn may well be required to take those 'intercept' marks in this particular game.

[old55 23,306]

4 hours ago, jnrmac said:

Its a Melb home game. Dogs fans don't get free entry. That will deter a lot of their fans. Footy is expensive these days. Family of 4 $130 plus food etc and transport.

"General admission tickets for games at the MCG and Marvel Stadium will stay at $27 for adults, $18 for concession card holders and $5 for kids over five years old, while kids under five can get into games for free."

That looks like 2 x $27 + 2 x $5 = $64. Less than half your calculation. It's pretty good value.

[Demonland 71,083]

1 hour ago, Demonsone said:

Has May been confirmed not playing?

 

1 hour ago, whatwhat say what said:

i imagine they'll give him up to an hour before the bounce

Yeah. I think he will be picked to play and they will pull the pin right at the last minute despite the fact that I reckon that they already know whether he will or won't.

[binman 42,435]

1 hour ago, Red But Mostly Blue said:

100% get that

And it's great that we are so intense.

Perhaps we could do it with less impact on our elite? lol

Anyway. I get it. I just hope we benefit this year from such training, and we don't have last year's ongoing discussion about loading/fitness/banged up players who fizzled out.

Very few clubs will go into round one without missing one, or more of their best 22.

Of the potential/likely finalists:

The dogs have weightman out.

The blues have Walsh out

The lions have Zorko and Gardiner out

Hawkins and Duncan are probable outs for the cats (and menagola is def out),

Toby Bedford is out with a serious hammy for the giants (who probably aren't a likely finalists i guess).

The tigers will be missing soldo and tarrant (and have 6 non best 22 locks unavailable)

And the swans will be missing three best 22 plsyers in Hickey, Clarke and Fox.

I'm pretty sure most, perhaps all, of the players noted above were injured during preseason (as opposed to a carry over injury from the 2022 season).

[censored] happens.

Particularly given, as Voss noted on 360 the other night, preseason training now involves match simulations and game like drills from the get go.

For example, we apparently basically play a scratch match every week.

[AzzKikA 2,371]

2 hours ago, 58er said:

What a ridiculous post by Azz and Lord Travis.

When both Thursday and Friday night are sellouts !!! 
 

Hasnt  worried Tigers Blues Pies and Cats fans. Why should it worry US? 
Please don't defend our fans. They have had 6 mths to work out transport anomalies. You either want to go or don't. Easier to travel any way on Sat. night. 
As for WCW and pensioner on Thursday comment for last year. Same response Had 6 mths to save for purchase of Mship ticket or ticket to the game. 
The longer we analyse the issues for non attendance the weaker the excuses become for our fans as it doesn't affect other Clubs fans. 

The technology has ena bled the Mship tickets to be scanned at the gates now so no excuses there either, 

A bit of realism and club loyalty is what we need occasionally. 
 

Hey 58er, you ever caught a coach instead of a train from regional Victoria? Clearly you're well off and don't live week to week like most of us or you'd recognise that for some, saving is near impossible as everything goes further up.

But I guess they are just excuses and people should not feed their kids, or pay their bills or mortgage just so long as they go to the football.

[In Harmes Way 7,730]

4 hours ago, jnrmac said:

Its a Melb home game. Dogs fans don't get free entry. That will deter a lot of their fans. Footy is expensive these days. Family of 4 $130 plus food etc and transport.

And that doesn’t take their PTSD into account

[binman 42,435]

2 hours ago, rpfc said:

You can’t replace your best players. Depth only works on the periphery - to replace ANB and Rivers or specific roles like FP or defensive wing. 

So the absences of Fritsch, Viney, May, and Salem will be answered only, and respectively, by the existing forwards, mids, Lever and Petty, and the back flankers to do a little bit more.

I think we will win unless someone gets a hold of us. Our team looks energised and synergised and that can win you a few games on its own early in the season.

ANB is not on the 'periphary'.

Critical player for us who does not have a like for like replacement in the twos.

Our game plan relies on out numbering the oppo at contests. Nibbler is a critical part of our ability to do so.

Outside of Langdon and Hunter, no demon player has nibbler's combination of athleticism, ability to cover the ground at pace, elite endurance and discipline.

Howe might get there, but aint there yet. No one else in the twos comes close. 

Edited March 16, 2023 by binman

[Red But Mostly Blue 4,547]

12 minutes ago, binman said:

Very few clubs will go into round one without missing one, or more of their best 22.

Of the potential/likely finalists:

The dogs have weightman out.

The blues have Walsh out

The lions have Zorko and Gardiner out

Hawkins and Duncan are probable outs for the cats (and menagola is def out),

Toby Bedford is out with a serious hammy for the giants (who probably aren't a likely finalists i guess).

The tigers will be missing soldo and tarrant (and have 6 non best 22 locks unavailable)

And the swans will be missing three best 22 plsyers in Hickey, Clarke and Fox.

I'm pretty sure most, perhaps all, of the players noted above were injured during preseason (as opposed to a carry over injury from the 2022 season).

[censored] happens.

Particularly given, as Voss noted on 360 the other night, preseason training now involves match simulations and game like drills from the get go.

For example, we apparently basically play a scratch match every week.

Thanks for the really thorough reply, mate. Appreciated.

Looks as if we're not alone (although, and I might be biased about our own players haha, but I still think we sit near or at the top in terms of our outs for this week relative to the others). But like you said, stuff happens. 

I have faith, and notwithstanding the outs still believe we are leaps and bounds better than the doggies on Sat. But it will take a team effort, and a little depth standing up (which, to be fair, our depth in Turner (who might not get the nod), Judd etc. is damn good and super promising for the year). So it's not all bad. It gives us a look at alternative structures and game time for juniors earlier in the year, rather than at the end. 

[DeeSpencer 25,341]

50 minutes ago, Jaded No More said:

It would be an incredibly negative attitude to go into round 1 with Tmac thrown into the backline.

We have options, and to rob our forwardline of Tmac, who's absence last season showed us how pivotal he is to our setup, is just defeatist. 

Turner, Tomlinson and Sasche can all come in and play down back, pushing Petty to the FB role, which we know he can do well. We can also push Gawn back behind play, which I suggest we might do if we need to stem momentum, which still leaves this guy named Grundy in the ruck. I hear he is not bad.

 

Is it negative or the practical thing to do?

Tomlinson isn’t in form. Schache hasn’t trained back with us. Forget them.

Turner’s the only viable option from those 3 and he’s only just developing as a key back. He came in to the system as a tall flanker hasn’t really played key back at Casey given he’s had Tommo and Ellison alongside him.

T Mc can go back and give a strong aerial contest which is what we need. 

The training reports got a little out of hand but JVR is ready to go and the best tall outside the 22. I’d be backing him to do the job. 

[Bring-Back-Powell 14,668]

24 minutes ago, binman said:

Very few clubs will go into round one without missing one, or more of their best 22.

Of the potential/likely finalists:

The dogs have weightman out.

 

And Gardiner who played basically every game last year for the Dogs.

 

Is it too late to give JVR a debut video and send Tom McDonald back?

Could be the Brisbane final last year in reverse. JVR selected all week until Max ended up retaining his spot. 

Edited March 16, 2023 by Bring-Back-Powell

[Jaded No More 68,832]

23 minutes ago, old55 said:

"General admission tickets for games at the MCG and Marvel Stadium will stay at $27 for adults, $18 for concession card holders and $5 for kids over five years old, while kids under five can get into games for free."

That looks like 2 x $27 + 2 x $5 = $64. Less than half your calculation. It's pretty good value.

I guess if you add the cost of public transport / petrol / parking, plus food, it's well over $100

But of course you don't have to buy food or drinks, you can bring them with you, which we have been doing for a long time (mainly because food at the ground is [censored] and overpriced).
I've never gone to a game with the intention of drinking either, so that helps. I go to the footy to watch the game, not to drink... although there were many years there where being drunk at the game would have really helped 😁

[Jaded No More 68,832]

2 minutes ago, DeeSpencer said:

Is it negative or the practical thing to do?

Tomlinson isn’t in form. Schache hasn’t trained back with us. Forget them.

Turner’s the only viable option from those 3 and he’s only just developing as a key back. He came in to the system as a tall flanker hasn’t really played key back at Casey given he’s had Tommo and Ellison alongside him.

T Mc can go back and give a strong aerial contest which is what we need. 

The training reports got a little out of hand but JVR is ready to go and the best tall outside the 22. I’d be backing him to do the job. 

 

Turner is no less experienced than Darcy though, so why can't he play on him?

I assume Petty will take Naughton and if they throw Lobb forward, which they may not be able to anyway because they will need to somehow cover both Gawn and Grundy, then we can send Gawn back to cover him.

McDonald is only a break in case of emergency solution if we lose a player MID GAME. I don't think we will start him in defence, because it will hurt us far more than bringing in another defender to cover May. 

We saw what happened to our structure when TMac went down last year, and we obviously don't believe JVR is ready to play that role yet. If he was, you could argue that TMac could swing back, but going into a game without Fritta and then throwing TMac down back is conceding we can't win enough midfield ball to win the game. And we absolutely can. 

[Rab D Nesbitt 8,334]

TMac will only ever be thrown back if we lose a key defender during a game. It’s just one of the reasons he’s so valuable to us. 

[Sir Why You Little 36,878]

Sam McClure is an absolute [censored] and a [censored]. I mean look at the shape of his head. A true Bottom Feeder Journalist who will turn anything into a story, just like Hutchison. 
This is not a Blockbuster game. It’s just a home game….

I thought of McCure as Carlscum choked last year

[MrFreeze 1,941]

I am absolutely confident Disco and Petty will do a fine job as they key defense pair. Our defense has big names but it's always been about the system and playing to a role. 

[La Dee-vina Comedia 16,664]

2 hours ago, Jaded No More said:

Schache has a point to prove and probably knows the Dog's forward set up better than most. Can he cut it as a defender? Who knows.

Look you can't replace May with a second rate player. He is arguably the best defender in the game. We just need to make do until he cherry ripe, because we can go without him for a few weeks now, but we can't afford for him to break down in finals. He is far far too valuable. 

The converse is also true - the Bulldogs know his weaknesses better than everyone and can use that to their advantage.

[layzie 33,718]

1 hour ago, Jaded No More said:

I guess if you add the cost of public transport / petrol / parking, plus food, it's well over $100

But of course you don't have to buy food or drinks, you can bring them with you, which we have been doing for a long time (mainly because food at the ground is [censored] and overpriced).
I've never gone to a game with the intention of drinking either, so that helps. I go to the footy to watch the game, not to drink... although there were many years there where being drunk at the game would have really helped 😁

Are you a homemade sandwich person Jaded? I used to do this a lot, need to get back into that habit and save a few bob.

I'll have a drink occasionally at the footy if I'm there with people and we're having a good time but 80% of the games I attend I don't drink. I'm there to watch the game as well and remember every moment if we won. It amazed me how many of my MFC friends got totally blotto during the Grand Final, I was stone cold sober.